Reading Between The Lines: Louis' Story
by Black Rose of Death123
Summary: Companion fic to my drabble series Reading Between The Lines. Ember was a good girl, and she had no intention of ever being bad. But everyone has their vices, and she was no exception.
1. Song

_This is the song that I think fits the story. If you don't want to read it, go to the next chapter for the story._

**_This song is by Panic! At The Disco. It does not belong to me._**

Is it still me that makes you sweat?  
Am I who you think about in bed?  
When the lights are dim and your hands are shaking as you're sliding off your dress?  
Then think of what you did  
And how I hope to God he was worth it.  
When the lights are dim and your heart is racing as your fingers touch his skin.  
I've got more wit, a better kiss, a hotter touch, a better fuck  
Than any boy you'll ever meet, sweetie you had me  
Girl I was it, look past the sweat, a better love deserving of  
Exchanging body heat in the passenger seat?  
No, no, no, you know it will always just be me

Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?

So I guess we're back to us, oh cameraman, swing the focus  
In case I lost my train of thought, where was it that we last left off?  
(Let's pick up, pick up)

Oh now I do recall, we were just getting to the part  
Where the shock sets in, and the stomach acid finds a new way to make you get sick.  
I hope you didn't expect that you'd get all of the attention.  
Now let's not get selfish  
Did you really think I'd let you kill this chorus?

Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?

Dance to this beat  
Dance to this beat  
Dance to this beat

Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster  
Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster

I've got more wit, a better kiss, a hotter touch, a better fuck  
Than any boy you'll ever meet, sweetie you had me  
Girl I was it, look past the sweat, a better love deserving of  
Exchanging body heat in the passenger seat?  
No, no, no, you know it will always just be me

Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls,  
Will you dance to this beat, and hold a lover close?

So testosterone boys and harlequin girls  
Dance to this beat  
So testosterone boys and harlequin girls  
Dance to this beat  
And hold a lover close  
Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster, faster  
Let's get these teen hearts beating. Faster


	2. Chapter 1: One Connects The Rest

**_Louis Weasley along with the entire Harry Potter world belongs to the wonderful mind of Jk Rowling. :)_**

_Okay, so we'll start during Em's first year, and we'll work from there. These'll be either short or long depending on the scene. Enjoy and review. :)_

**_First Year: September 1st_**

"I wonder what house-"

"Did you see that one? He tripped on the way-"

"I can't _believe_ they sorted that one into-"

"They should have been in _our-_"

"Stupid bloody Sly-"

Ember stared down at her lap and tried even harder to ignore the mash up of voices around her. Her efforts were pointless, however, in the excitement of sorting day. To be honest she didn't much see the point. New students came in every year, why did everyone need to make so much fuss each time? Granted she was included in the new wave this year, but still.

She didn't really like commotion and loudness; which was probably why she'd decided to sit the farthest away from the sorting once she was put into Ravenclaw. Now just because she didn't like the commotion, didn't mean she didn't appreciate it. She loved that her school seemed to have so much spirit. She'd just rather be somewhere else while they were showing it. Like the library. Yes, the library seemed like a fine place to be indeed.

With the knowledge that she would have to be stuck in the Great Hall for the rest of the night, Ember began to make herself more comfortable. She glanced around and managed to catch the pretty grey eyes of the girl sitting across from her. The girl looked to be a few years older than her and she had strawberry blonde hair. She looked nice enough though, so Ember tried not to shy away too much. The girl smiled at her, and in an attempt to be friendly, Ember smiled lightly back.

"Dominique Weasley." She said simply, sticking out her hand across the table.

Ember stared at it for a while, and then slowly extended her own appendage. Dominique's hand was a lot bigger then hers, and she had a few callouses.

"Ember right?" Dominique asked. Idly Ember wondered if the girl played any instruments.

"Yah. Like a fire's dying flame."

Dominique's smile seemed to widen at Ember's off handed trivia. Ember's own small smile widened in return.


	3. Chapter 2: A Deliciously Bad Beginning

**_First Year: June 21_****_st_**

Ember held tight to Dom's arm as they attempted to push their way through the crowed on platform 9 ¾. People young and old were meeting up all over the place and it was utter chaos. This however, was to be expected. Everyone was finally going home for the summer. Although Ember would be happy to see her Mom, she would miss her new friend terribly.

When Dom finally stopped in front of a rather large group of people, Ember prepared to take her leave. She was only half turned around, however, when Dom grabbed her arm.

"Hold on Em, I want to introduce you to my Mum and Dad real quick. Maybe next year you can spend one of the Holidays at my house."

Ember shifted in her friend's hold and smiled. The thought of spending some time outside of school with her new friend excited her. Even if said friend was four years her senior. It took a while, but after Dom was bombarded by hugs from various red heads, they reached the only blonde woman in the group. She was absolutely stunning, and Ember knew this woman had to be Dom's Mum. Next to her stood a tall man with red hair and a wicked looking scar. That was probably Dom's Dad.

The woman smiled widely at her daughter, and immediately engulfed her I a hug while speaking rapidly in French. Dom laughed, and replied in kind. Since she couldn't speak French, Ember simply stood there looking lost and confused. After giving her Dad a hug too, Dom took Ember's arm once again and pushed her in front of Mrs. Weasley.

"This is my friend Ember Rayne. I wanted you to meet her before we went home. I was hoping she could maybe come over sometime next year?"

Ember fidgeted under Mrs. Weasley's crystal stare and hid behind her frizzy hair.

"Isn't she a little young?" she asked in a slight accent.

Dominique just smiled and shrugged. It seemed that was enough for her , however, because the next thing Ember knew, she was being enveloped in warmth and the scent of lavender. Ember tensed, and didn't return the hug. She wasn't one for touching, and since she'd just met Mrs. Weasley, she couldn't help herself.

After a minute, she backed off, looking confused. Her confusion vanished once she saw the red painted on Ember's cheeks and her embarrassed expression, however. Instead, another one of her stunning smiles lit up her face.

"You've met Dominique's siblings, yes?" she asked.

Ember smiled lightly at Mrs. Weasley's pronunciation of Dom's name, and shrugged. Dom had pointed out her siblings out to Ember once. Ember knew Dom's siblings to be tall and blonde, but that was all. After Dom explained this to her mother, Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes and proceeded to scream her children's names. Startled, Ember flinched and backed up. In her hasty movements, Ember managed to bump into someone.

She mumbled a quick apology before turning to look at the two new people she was to meet. The boy stood off to her left, while the girl stood by her mother. The girl, who had to be Victoire, was beautiful. Her hair was the perfect shade of golden blonde, and she seemed to have inherited her father's tan skin, but with none of the freckles to mar it's perfection. In contrast, her eyes were a perfect blue color. She'd probably be one of the most beautiful girls Ember had ever seen if it wasn't for her expression. At the sight of Ember, Victoire's beautiful face morphed into a rather sour expression.

"This is my darling Victoire," Mrs. Weasley beamed while fondly patting her daughter's hair as she continued with her introduction. It seemed she hadn't noticed her daughter's appearance.

"And this," she gestured towards the boy, "is Louis."

Louis made a small hum of acknowledgement, and simply continued to stare off into the distance.

Slightly put off by Victoire, Ember let her gaze move onto Louis. He wasn't looking her way, but from what Ember could tell, he seemed to be just as beautiful as the rest of his family. His coloring was paler than that of his sisters, but that was probably because he seemed to take after his Mum more. It was funny, how they all seemed to be pristine dolls, what with their perfect looks. Even Mr. Weasley's scar couldn't take away from his rugged handsomeness.

Bored with her thoughts on beauty, Ember began to wonder what it was the Weasley boy could be so interested in. She allowed her eyes to follow his line of sight, but she couldn't pinpoint what he was looking at in the large crowed. A bit miffed, Ember lifted her glasses to rub her eyes then try again.

She let her eyes land on different groups of people, pondering which was holding the boy's interest so abruptly. She thought it had to be fascinating in order to enrapture his attention so thoroughly.

She didn't think it would be what looked like a second year boy hugging his grandparents. It probably wasn't a couple of twins talking to their parents. Or what looked like a small family waiting for a student.

She glanced back at his face, and noticed that his lips were slightly parted, and how wide his pupils seemed to be. Ember blinked at his expression, then swept some messy curls behind her ear in order to see better.

Her gaze flitted from person to person, family to family, trying to figure out what the older boy was looking at. She had almost resigned herself to giving up and perhaps _actually_ listening to what Mrs. Weasley was saying, when she saw it. Well, _them_ was a bit more accurate.

Two of the older students were together in one of the shadowed places of the platform. She inhaled sharply when she saw them, and she felt her face grow hot. This wasn't something that was for the public eye. Obviously it was meant to be a semi private good bye snog for the long summer. From what she could see, hands were moving beneath clothes, and tongues were dancing. This wasn't something that people should be watching. It wasn't something that _she _should be watching.

Ember looked away and at the ground, slightly mortified. She risked a glance at Louis through her curtain of curls, hoping he hadn't heard her gasp of surprise. Unfortunately for her, it appeared he had. He was looking straight at her, and his silver eyes locked with her brown. She felt her blush grow hotter and her throat grow dry as he stared at her. Slowly, he began to smirk. That could _not_ have been what he was looking at.

"Did you see?" he asked. His voice sounded strange to her ears. It was low. Lower then it should be at his age. It had an oddly silky quality to it as well.

She tried to swallow in an attempt to wet her dry throat, but to no avail. All she could get out was a small exhale of breath. Slowly becoming even more horrified, she turned her gaze back to the ground. She tried to ignore his presence by listening to the soft lilt of his mother's voice as she spoke. She had almost managed to completely cool her face and shake of her embarrassment when she felt a warm breath at her ear.

Her eyes widened and she turned to see Louis much closer and bent so he would be able to whisper more easily in her ear.

"Hott wasn't it?" he asked her.

Any chance of getting her blush under control was completely erased in that moment. Completely at a loss of words, all Ember could do was stutter out a weak 'what?'

Ember had heard rumors around school about Louis; most of them comparing him to a fallen angel, especially in the looks department. At that moment, however, the only thing Ember could think of as his smile widened was a demon. The next words out of his mouth, however, made her think of a _very _particular demon; an Incubus to be specific.

"It was hott wasn't it?" he asked, voice getting huskier by the second, eyes taking on a more metallic silver color, "When he slid his hand up her thigh? He probably slipped right passed her knickers. I bet he slipped his fingers right into her hot little-"

"Louis! We have to go now."

By that point, Ember was trembling. Whether with embarrassment, or something else, she didn't really know. All she _did_ know was that she was extremely grateful for Mrs. Weasley's timing. With a quick goodbye to Dominique, her Mum, Dad, and Victoire, Ember all but ran away to find her Mom. She also pretended that she never saw the amused tilt to Louis' perfect lips as she left. She pretended she didn't see, or _hear_, a lot of things that day.


	4. Chapter 3: You Are My Damnation

_Okay so I got this review on my drabble series __Reading Between the Lines__: "_Hi! I just read your Louis Weasley story and I'm so excited to learn more about the individuals(: I was wondering if you were going to do more on the characters like arose and Scorpius? They're my favorite couple and I was just curious. Thank you for reading this and I can't wait for the next chapter!"

I thought I'd answer it here since I'm updating, I hope no one minds. Anyway the answer is I don't know. I write best on the spot, and I write things as they come to me. Rose/Scorpius is one of my favorite ships, but I usually end up writing canon character/oc ships. So yah, truthfully I don't know, if it happens I'll be happy, if not than oh well... Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry if my answer is disappointing...

**_2_****_nd_****_ Year: February 5_****_th_******

Deep in the depths of the Hogwarts library, Ember sat alone surrounded by her own personal stack of books. To her left she had books that were required for class, and in front of her and to her right, she'd gathered an assortment of other books for pleasure reading. She had everything from mystery to magic theory in her pile. At the moment, she was enthralled by a book about Veela.

She was particularly interested in the subject because Dom had told her about her Veela blood. Ember didn't think Dominique had been particularly happy when she'd told her. The information was more damage control then anything. She'd told Ember after she'd gotten in a rather nasty fight with a Slytherin girl, and the claws had come out. Literally.

Ember had been positively shocked when her friend's beautiful eyes had taken on a much more sinister hue, and her normally carefully painted nails had suddenly sharpened dramatically. Once Dominique had calmed down, that little incident had resulted in a rather long conversation about magical creatures, bloodlines, and Delacour descendants. From what Ember had gathered, the physical, magical, and mental veela traits seemed to vary from person to person.

Ember had wanted to ask more, but she wasn't able to work up the courage to do so. Dominique looked as if she was done with her veela heritage for the day, if not forever. Ember could see her friend's weariness, so she'd decided to let her friend be, and they'd rested in a comfortable silence for the rest of the night.

Since then, it had been about a month. In that time, Ember had managed to work her way through about a quarter of the library in search of more information about the magical creatures. Unfortunately, her newly accumulated knowledge only raised more questions. How many traits had Dom's siblings received? Did it affect their daily lives? How did it affect their magic? Was it even _possible_ for Louis-

Ember grimaced, and clenched her book tightly. There it was, the other thing that'd been on her mind as of late. Ever since the incident on platform 9 ¾, Ember had been devoted to finding a reason to justify the boy's actions. For a while she'd just tried to play it off on his naturally flirty behavior, but she was _3 years younger _than him for Christ's sake. You just didn't say things like _that_ to an 11 year old. Granted she'd probably read and seen worse online, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was that Louis made her uncomfortable, and she hated being uncomfortable.

Somewhat childishly, Ember had taken up the habit of turning tail and bolting whenever she thought Louis was coming. She was almost sure he'd seen her do it a couple times, but that didn't really matter. All that mattered was that she was not anywhere _near_ that stupid smile and evocative voice of his.

Ember bit the inside of her cheek and sighed. Her thoughts were scattered now, and truth be told her mood had turned a bit sour. Done with thoughts of enchanting blondes for the night, Ember decided to clear her mind of the matter. Her cleansing process unfortunately included packing up her books about veela and heading back to her room. She couldn't have anything that made her think of silver eyes and platinum hair, and she needed a stretch after four hours of reading anyway.

After her special library bag was filled to the brim with books, Ember started her long trek back to Ravenclaw tower. The only downside to sitting so far back into the library was the amount of time it took to get back to the front. This negative could be overlooked though. The benefits far outweighed the inconvenient distance. With her spot in the back, it was always ensured that she would be left alone during her reading time. No one ever really came all the way back there; it was far too much work for most. Besides that, when it was time for the library to close, it took Madame Wenlock, the librarian, an extra few minutes to track her down and kick her out. That meant the world to Ember, for she got a few extra minutes to immerse herself in the worlds held by books.

Just the thought of reading a good book made Ember immensely happy. Though at times it seemed she lived within a fairy tale, what with being a witch and all, there was nothing that could beat a good book. Absentmindedly, Ember moved close to the book cases and began to run her fingers along the cool wood. As she walked, she was so lost within her book induced bliss, that she almost didn't notice the odd sounds coming from one of the book cases in front of her. Startled by the loud sound, Ember tripped and went sprawling.

Too late, she realized that the sounds had been moans. Rather loud ones at that. They'd stopped when she'd not so gracefully fell to the ground. She could feel her massive bag of books digging into her stomach, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Immensely embarrassed, Ember cracked open one eye. And then she promptly shut it.

It was Louis. Of course it was. Because god forbid she be spared any more embarrassment. The beautiful boy had been pinning a rather shocked looking girl to a bookcase, hands on her bare breasts, smirk on his rosy lips, eyebrow raised in question, and eyes staring straight into Ember's soul. His look had been undeniably searing and it made her absolutely sick. She could feel the acid rise in her throat. Only she wasn't sure whether if it was from the books that were digging into her gut or the boy doing lewd things with some face less girl.

After what seemed like forever, but could only have been maybe ten seconds, four things happened.

1. Ember made the mistake of saying " What the fuck." Out loud.

2. The girl shrieked something about leaving them alone.

3. Louis laughed, and then dropped the aforementioned girl.

4. Louis tried to make his way over towards Ember.

5. Ember pulled herself up in record time, ignored the ache in her stomach that _had_ to be from her books, and ran as if the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels.


	5. Chapter 4: A Real Boy

I love how I'm updating my least read story first, lol. Oh well, my other ones will get updated in time, meanwhile, please enjoy and send me feedback! I love it, it gives me the warm fuzzies, lol.

**3****rd**** Year: December 9****th**

Charlotte Dennings was horrible at potions. It was plain and simple. The girl wasn't stupid, per say, she was just very inattentive. It was for that very same reason that Charlotte should have been thankful when she received Ember as a potions partner. Where Charlotte lacked focus, Ember more than made up for it with her studious habits. At least, she usually did.

That particular day, however, both of them seemed to have been at least partially preoccupied. Now this would have been fine if not for the fact that they were to actually brew a potion in class instead of simply learning the mechanics of one.

The potion in question was supposed to be a simple sleeping potion. Ember had taken it upon herself to completely memorize the potion the week before, and she'd concluded that there wasn't any way that the brewing could go _horribly_ wrong. Of course there were ways that the potion could be botched, but Ember was confident that anything catastrophic wouldn't happen.

At least she was until she turned away to scan her notes and came up to see a potion that was _entirely _the wrong color. It was far darker than it should have been, and it was bubbling in an ominous manner. More than a little confused, Ember leaned in closer in order to get a better look.

"This doesn't look right," Ember said softly while inspecting the mess in front of her.

Charlotte moved in towards their cauldron at Ember's words.

"Well it looks like I may have added too much. Or maybe too little? I was sure Professor Slughorn said two and a half scoops. Or maybe it was one and a half? Who knows, the Professor is so old it gets a bit hard to understand him sometimes you know?" Charlotte was rambling, but Ember didn't really mind much.

Idly wondering _what _exactly Charlotte may have added to much or too little of, Ember leaned farther to see if the scent of the thick goo in front of them was even correct.

On retrospect, that was probably the worst idea she'd ever had. The moment she leaned in, she managed to let out a small sound of distress before a particularly large bubble popped, releasing a sound akin to a fire cracker and a searing stream of heat straight into her face.

The sound of Charlotte hitting the floor was dim in comparison to the ringing in her ears. A split second later, she belatedly realized that she was no longer on her stool even as the world faded to black around her.

**._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._.**

Ember awoke to three things:

A splitting headache.

A tender face.

And the sound of a mixture of angry English and French.

Ember tried her best to ignore everything but her headache. That one was a little more difficult to set aside, so she had to wait until it subsided. Once it did, she opened her eyes to a blurry room that she knew wouldn't come into focus until she found her glasses. She was confused momentarily until it all came rushing back: her partner messed up their potion and it exploded in both their faces.

Sighing, Ember reasoned that she must be in the Medical Wing. She hoped that her glasses had been set on the standard table that she knew to be beside the beds. She held her breathe and reached blindly towards the brown blob to her left. After a second, she felt the familiar object she'd been looking for and let out a noise of happiness.

As she slipped her glasses back onto her face, she noticed that the voices that had been going back and forth for the past few minutes had been silenced. With the world clear again, Ember was able to see and agitated Madam Wainscott making her way towards her. She also noticed a group of people standing near the entrance. In their midst, Ember was able to see the tall blonde form of Louis Weasley.

Unlike every other time they'd ended up in the same proximity, it seemed that for once he wasn't pumping out the sex appeal. Well, honestly with his pink lips, perfect skin, and bleach blonde hair he still kind of was, but the difference was that he wasn't actively focused on sex this time. Their eyes connected from across the room, and Ember could tell that he just looked- well the guy looked positively exhausted. From what she'd seen, when he was with his family he generally wasn't a bad person, and because of that she didn't generally wish ill things on him. Granted he was a Slytherin, but she wasn't much biased towards that house anyway. Besides, she knew what it felt like to be utterly drained. Tentatively, she gave him a small smile. To her utter surprise, he gave her one back. Satisfied with their small exchange, Ember turned back towards Madam Wainscott.

Slightly put off by her appearance, Ember gripped her bed sheet and gulped. Noticing Ember's startled aura, Madam Wainscott's face softened.

"Oh don't fret child, you're fine. Just a little banged up is all."

Ember nodded, and let the woman slip her hand under her chin in order to turn her face. At this point, Ember had realized that she had most likely sustained burns from her failed potion. She winced as Madam Wainscott lightly prodded at her face.

"You and Ms. Dennings managed to both knock yourselves out _and_ burn a good portion of your facial skin off. You, however, seemed to have gotten the worst of it."

Ember bit her lip and nodded.

"Are we gonna be okay? Charlotte and me I mean." she asked.

"Oh you two will be absolutely fine. This is nothing I haven't treated before. Charlotte was only asleep for about two hours, and she actually woke up a few hours ago. I sent her off with some cream to put on her face before bed. If you give me a bit of time, I can get you some and I'll send you right out."

Ember simply nodded and went to sit up. Her shoes had been taken off and set neatly beside the bed.

"Okay, I'll be back in about five minutes," Madam Wainscott said while settling a hand on Embers back to help her up. On her way towards her office, she stopped and turned towards the group at the door. Her expression was once again sharp, and her voice was hard.

"Louis can sit on the bed to the left of Ms. Rayne. The rest of you can leave. You'll have your blood sample by tomorrow, no earlier. I have other, more important things to attend to first." With that said, the stern woman turned on her heal and stalked towards her office.

After saying something that made Louis clench his jaw, the strange people left. Exhaustion slowly being replaced with anger, Louis made his way towards his appointed bed. Ember watched as he sat and tried to even out his breathing. After running his hand through pale locks, he looked up and suddenly Ember was staring into silvery eyes. She quickly looked away as she felt the hot beginnings of a blush on her cheeks. Just because he wasn't being salacious at the moment didn't mean she could look him in the eye any better than she could when he had a girl pinned against a book shelf.

"You need something?" he asked, voice still just as mesmerizing as she remembered.

Ember blinked and tried to push back the memories of scorching eyes and pale hands on skin. She cleared her throat and tried to fight the blush down that was quickly blooming on her face.

"I uh- umm, are you okay?" The question was rushed and it wasn't the most eloquent, but it got her point across.

Surprised flitted across his face before he settled into a thoughtful silence. After a second, he opened his mouth to answer her.

"I'm just a little bit pissed."

Once again the exhaustion was evident on his face. Ember looked at him for a moment longer before she decided to do something that she would probably regret later.

"You know if you want to tell me… I'm here…"

To her utter horror he actually laughed. Loudly. The sound was pleasing to the ear and she might have appreciated it any other time, but at the moment all it managed to do was embarrass the hell out of her. Not wanting to face him, Ember bent over to quickly put on her shoes.

She silently cursed the laces on her shoes as the seconds ticked by. Finally, she had both tied tightly and went to get up. She'd get her cream from Madam Wainscott and go back to Ravenclaw tower. At least there she could hide in her room and there would be no one to see her face turn into a cherry tomato.

Just as she was about to leave, however, Louis stopped her.

"Wait! I didn't mean to laugh, I just, well, I didn't really think you liked me much. I mean you _do _run every time we see each other."

Ember looked at Louis from her own seated position and the smirk on his face did nothing but irritate her. The stupid boy knew exactly why she ran and he probably enjoyed it too. No, she _knew _he enjoyed it. Instead of calling him out on it, however, she simply shrugged and looked down at the floor.

"Really though, I appreciate it."

Ember bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to dampen her offending blush before she answered.

"You're welcome…"

All of a sudden Louis' demeanor changed. His knee was bouncing and his silver eyes were intense. Ember took comfort in the fact that the intensity in his eyes was different than what she was used to seeing.

"You know that Victoire Dominique and I are all part Veela right?"

Ember straightened up at his words and nodded. Yes, she knew all right.

"How much do you know about Veela?"

Ember thought about it. The fact that she'd spent as much time as she had researching them was an embarrassment all by itself. So of course, she replied as truthfully as she could given the situation.

"I know a bit…"

He nodded resolutely and ran a hand through his hair. It seemed he did that quite a lot.

"Did you know that there's never been a recorded case of a male veela before? Before me I mean?"

Yes. Yes she did know that. She'd looked it up specifically after meeting him. But again, that was another thing she would never tell anyone.

So she simply nodded.

"Yeah, well the ministry knows that too. That's where those people were from. The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures specifically."

After that, Louis simply sat, hands on his knees and eyes like molten silver. It was almost as if he was waiting for her to understand something.

And then she did.

"But you're not a magical creature," she said gaping at him. He couldn't be saying what she thought he was saying. That was just, well it was kind of messed up.

"Then what would you call me?"

She didn't even need a second to think about her reply.

"I'd call you Louis. You're just Louis."

The smile he gave her was soft, and it made her feel warm. But for once, it was actually in a good way.

"Technically I am considered a magical creature, technically I'm not. It depends on which way you look at it. All that really matters at this point is that all the ministry wants to do is study me. My Mum and Dad are totally against, as is just about everyone else, but the ministry still insists. My parents can't do much without causing a ruckus, but they do draw the line at blood samples. They downright refuse to let them do anything else to me. For right now that satisfies the ministry, but without a doubt they're going to want more soon."

Ember didn't know what to say to comfort him, and she didn't want to lie. So she told the truth.

"I can see why they would want to do it… But that's kind of fucked up. No, not kind of, that's really fucked up. You just don't do things like that when it's obvious that there's no consent."

He raised one eyebrow at her.

"That's some strong language for such a little girl."

Ember gave him a look that conveyed everything that ever needed to be said: You are 15 and you've probably had more sex than most people have had in their entire lives and you're calling _me_ out on my _language?_

His frustrating smirk was back again and she had a strong urge to slap it off of his pretty little face.

"I do agree with what you said though. I don't exactly fancy being anyone's experiment."

Ember watched as Louis' mood dropped again. It seemed that today was just a bunch of highs and lows for him. As bad as she felt for Louis, she was actually glad that she got to see him go through something today. To her, it made him seem more human. More like a person she could actually maybe be friends with instead of the one guy who she'd do anything to get away from.

Ember could see Madam Wainscott coming back with her cream, and she made to get up. She couldn't leave without saying one last thing to Louis, however.

"You're not anyone's science experiment Louis."

And with that she began walking away. She didn't get very far, however, before a warm hand engulfed her wrist. Ember sucked in a sharp breath and turned towards her assailant. His eyes were burning again, and it made Ember shiver. She tried to twist her wrist out of his grip, but he was stronger than she thought. When it became apparent that she wasn't getting away unless he let her go, Ember settled on staring at stray strands of his soft hair. She would've looked him in the eyes, but she wasn't quite brave enough for that.

At the moment, he was looking down at their wrists in an absent minded manner. It seemed he was thinking, and Ember really wanted him to pay attention because he'd began distractedly stroking her wrist lightly with his thumb. It was driving her crazy, and she really wanted him to let go. After a second, his grip loosened and he spoke.

"Your shoes."

Ember glanced quickly towards his face in confusion, then back away. Her shoes were plain black converse. Sure they were beat up, but she'd had them for a while and she wore them every day. The look wasn't uncommon.

"What about them?"

"It's raining outside, it'll be snowing soon. Why aren't you wearing something warmer?"

Ember inhaled deeply and looked at a random stone on the castle wall.

"This is all I brought."

And that was true. That _was_ all she'd brought, but what she wasn't telling him was that she didn't exactly _have_ anything that would be useful in the cold weather. Stuff like that tended to get expensive, especially since she was still growing. Ember bit her lip and hoped that Louis wouldn't ask about her lack of proper foot wear.

"Why?"

The only thing going through Ember's mind at that second consisted of 'crap' and 'lie to him'.

But she couldn't exactly do the latter. Ember hated being lied to, and she'd made it her life's goal to never lie to anyone whenever possible. Now given time, she could mislead perfectly well with the truth, because that? Well that didn't go against her morals. But she didn't have time to come up with a proper excuse.

"I uh, well that is, you see, I, uh, I don't really have anything." The words came out in a jumbled mess, and she'd said them so softly that she'd hoped he hadn't heard. Except he did.

"Why not? You've been going here three years, you ought to know by know how the weather gets."

Though it wasn't as bad as things normally where between them, things had definitely gotten awkward, at least in her opinion. Ember tried to come up with something to say, but eventually all she was able to do was give him one answer.

"They're kind of expensive."

With her final reply, Louis unclasped Ember's wrist. Immediately she twisted her hands up in the bottom of her jumper. She murmured a quick goodbye and shot off towards Madam Wainscott. She quickly grabbed the cream and memorized Madam Wainscott's simple directions.

On her way out, she decided to put the odd shoe conversation completely out of her mind to save her any further embarrassment, and so she did.

**._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._. ._.-._.-._.**

**3****rd**** Year: December 25****th**

Two weeks later it came rushing back when she opened the second of two packages addressed from the Weasley's expecting to find another gift from Dom, and instead found a brand new pair of jet black snow boots with a tiny note that said _'From Louis'._


End file.
